Russia-Ukraine War: Russian, Belarusian trucks queue on Polish border after EU ban

An 80km line of trucks queued at the Polish border are causing chaos as the EU moves to ban non-essential trucks from crossing into European counties.

As of April 16, Russian and Belarusian vehicles have been barred from transporting non-essential goods in the EU bloc. This however, does not include things like food, mail, medicine and energy.

Now drone footage captured by Reuters showed around 600 trucks waiting to cross near the Polish border town of Kukuryk-Kozlovichi on Saturday night with the problem continuing into Sunday.

The queues and delays peaked at 28 hours on Saturday evening and are a result of processing delays as drivers attempted to cross the border into Belarus.

Similar delays were also seen in the Polish border town of Bobrowniki further north.

Speaking to Reuters, a truck driver from Belarus, Dmitry, said there was a lot of uncertainty around how the sanctions would affect the truck drivers.

"I don't know how long it will take. We're moving forward but very slowly," he said.

"We are not alone here. There are [drivers from] Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, standing in the queue. And we can't say how it will turn out."

Despite the deadline, the BBC estimated that thousands more Russian and Belarusian drivers still remain in the EU, with their fate unclear.

The UK broadcaster suggested that the trucks could be seized by national authorities now that the deadline has elapsed.

Trucks attempting to get into Belarus from Poland were met with heavy queues. Photo / Screen shot

The sanction on Russian and Belarusian trucks is the latest punishment international governments have imposed on Russia as they continue their invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's billionaire oligarchs, Vladimir Putin's family members and high-level military personnel have been slapped with economic sanctions, with new investment opportunities also pulled from the country.

Several international conglomerates and multinational corporations like Ikea, McDonald's, Nike and Unilever have also suspended their operations, imports and exports.

In response, Russia has hit Western countries with export bans on more than 200 products until the end of 2022. This includes items like medical, telecommunications, vehicle, agricultural and electrical equipment, and supplies like timber.